Crimson Wind
by Iridescent Moonflower
Summary: Rarely are the lives of shinobi guilt-free or innocent. Hands are bathed in blood and tears are shed. The life of a kunoichi was no easy life, but if she could choose again, she would still choose it. For her friends. For family. For Konoha. In which Naruto had a twin sister that knew nothing of his existence nor him of hers. Rated T for minor violence.
1. Academy Arc: I

**Disclaimer** : Naruto is in no way mine. Its characters, plot, and setting all belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

 _Prologue_

 _Academy Arc: I_

* * *

Hate. That was all she'd known through her entire life. When she walked the streets, she'd see glares of malice and scorn. When she tried to enter shops to purchase food or clothing, or anything at all, she was met with sneers and more often than not, turned away. And even if she managed to buy anything, it was always poor in quality or expired (or close to expired). Yet, she was forced to pay a premium for these. (Of course she noticed. Did they really think she would not notice when she was forced to pay nearly triple the regular prices? She may be just a child, but she felt even an three year old would notice.) She was always met with insults whenever she tried to say anything, so she'd just learned to keep her mouth shut and head down when she walked by the villagers. To never draw attention to herself — whether good or bad. "Demon Brat" she was called.

Judgemental eyes always watched her. She never walked out in the open streets anymore, especially not in broad daylight, preferring alleyways and short-cuts, if only so she couldn't see the stares anymore. Experience taught her that they couldn't hurt her if they couldn't find her, if she hung in the shadows and remained unseen by the condemning eyes.

She didn't know _why_ she was so hated and she'd always wondered. The lack of knowledge was what haunted her the most. Was it because of something her parents had done? But no, the old man with the funny red hat had assured her that her parents had been honorable shinobi who had died protecting the village from the Kyuubi when she'd asked. So why? Was it because her birthday was on the day of the Kyuubi attack? That wasn't her fault; it wasn't like she could control which day she was born. Then, did they hate her for being her? That was what scared her; that they might hate her because of her, because they hate _her_ and not something else. Because she could change the opinions of them if they hated her for something else, but if they hated her for her…

 _Why_? Why did she receive scorn when others receive praise? She'd seen other girls her age coddled and fawned over. Older women would gush about how cute they were, comments of _oh, aren't you just adorable!_ , followed by giggles. She'd see shopkeepers smile at them and offer little treats like tiny colorfully wrapped candies or little glittery accessories, yet sneer when she approached. She couldn't understand why.

She'd always watched the other children play. So carefree, so naive. She'd feel a pang of longing and perhaps a hint of envy at seeing them with their parents and other relatives — uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins… Was that what it was like to have parents? Would her parents take her to the park to play, or laugh and tell her jokes, or speak with pride about her? Would her dad swing her up onto his shoulders and would her mom gently guide her to have fun and make friends with other girls her age? Would her mom braid her hair or do other "girly" activities with her or teach her to be a powerful kunoichi like Tsunade Senju? She'd never know. So she just watched and watched.

She'd ask to play, but they always said no. Cries of "You can't play with us! Go away!" and "My momma said not to come near you," were familiar to her. It didn't hurt so much anymore when she was rejected, when the parents pulled their children away when she neared them. It was inevitable. Too many times the other children would turn away from her, even those who had been initially friendly, after a talk with their parents.

" _Get away from my daughter, you demon!" a civilian women snarled as she bore down on the red-haired five-year old and her new acquaintance. She dragged the six-year-old brown-haired girl away from the redhead she'd been standing next to, and proceeded to take out a cloth and wipe her skin as though one might wipe away a sickness or disease. "What did I tell you?" she scolded. "Stay away from the fox."_

" _But Mama —" the little girl protested._

" _Don't argue, Chiyako. It's for your own good. That fox is dangerous, okay? Come on, I'll make your favorite, chicken tempura, for dinner." Shooting a glare at the little redhead, The civilian women grabbed Chiyako's hand, and began to lead her away. Chiyako looked back at the red-haired girl she'd been playing with. She probably knew it was wrong, but children are oh-so malleable. And so the seeds of hate and fear were planted once more in the younger generation._

 _The little red-haired girl watched sadly as another of her newfound acquaintances walked away after her mother. It was another playmate lost, another friend gone._

If only her parents were alive. Perhaps then she wouldn't have to live off the street, running away again and again from the orphanages she was place into, the orphanages that never cared about her. The caretakers who were so kind to the other orphans would always act indifferent, if not outright rude and mean to her. Perhaps then she wouldn't have to scrounge for every scrap of food or steal the occasional fruit when the hunger grew unbearable. Perhaps then she wouldn't need to collect rain so that she could have clean water to use or bathe in the small streams that ran through the outermost regions Konoha.

" _Get back here demon!" The portly shopkeeper shouted, waving a rolling pin around, blundering about in the street. "Thief!" The little red-haired, bare-footed girl desperately tried to avoid the various civilians who tried to catch her, clinging to the stale, burnt pieces of bread she clutched in her hands. It was a week or so after she was driven out of the orphanage, and her hunger had gotten the better of her, having not had anything to eat for two whole days. She'd stolen a couple pieces of some old, stale bread that would likely be thrown away anyway from the bakery, but had been caught by the shopkeeper._

 _She ran as fast as she could, ignoring the burning in her legs and the fatigue in her feet, racing through the streets of Konoha, taking back alleys and short-cuts until she stopped, tired and ravenous, by a small stream running through the outskirts of Konoha. She glanced around her to be sure no one else was around, and then broke each of the loaves of bread into four pieces, totaling up to eight pieces. She ate one of the pieces and wrapped the rest in a large leaf she picked up from the ground near her and washed in the stream. When she was finished, she drank from the stream and stored the wrapped bread in a hollow in the tree behind her. They would be her meal for the next few days._

When she slept, she dreamt of family and what hers might be like. Perhaps her mom would have red hair like hers but only prettier but with the same vibrant violet eyes. Her dad would have sparkling blue eyes like the sky and he'd be the nicest person one could hope to meet. Maybe he'd even have hair in the brightest shade of golden-yellow, she mused. Possibly, she'd have a brother, a kind, energetic one who would be all protective of her and would someday become a powerful shinobi. (She never knew how right she was, how close her dreams were to reality. Only, they weren't, were they?)

One day though, she promised herself that she'd make the villagers respect her. One day, she'd become a worthy kunoichi, fighting for the village. She'd seen the respect that the shinobi of this day were given, and she vowed that one day, she too would earn that respect. The grandfatherly man — the leader of the village, her mind supplied — told her that he'd let her enroll early, at six instead of having to wait until she was eight, like the others. (And she was just a child, and no child, no matter how mature, was smart enough to look underneath the underneath and see that he'd been worried for her and thought that maybe she might make some friends in the Academy. She'd also be safer there, too, he reasoned, and this way she'd get more training.) And the next semester started the very next day, a day she had been waiting impatiently for. Perhaps she'd finally make friends who would stay with her, who wouldn't leave after just a talk with their parents.

A small smile graced her face at the thought. Smiles were harder to come by these days, since she didn't really have much to smile _about_. She'd long lost that childish wonder and innocence that all newborns possessed.

She quickly tidied up the little apartment that the Hokage had given her. Even with plain cream-colored walls and a single, small window, —just barely big enough for a grown man to slip in — she still loved it. It was nice to finally have her own place after spending a full year living on the streets, so she tried her best to keep it as neat as a six-year old could. Even if she still had to steal food so she wouldn't starve, even if she'd still see the stares, she'd been happy for a rare moment in her life as the Hokage presented her with the apartment.

" _Jiji? Where are we going?" the little red-haired girl asked as the Hokage led her along. For a second, she thought she saw a burning anger in the Hokage's face, but when he looked at her it was with a smile, so she dismissed it as nothing._

" _We are going to get you a place all for yourself, because_ someone _saw fit to evict you from the orphanage." She didn't notice the way his face hardened when the said the last line, didn't see the righteous anger at the orphanage caretakers, but she heard what he said._

" _Really? A place for myself?" she said excitedly. The Hokage nodded, leading her to a quite nice-looking apartment complex, and steered her to the top-most floor where he produced a key and opened the door._

" _Here you go," he said kindly. She peeked inside. It was a little bare, with plain white-washed walls, but it was_ clean _, at least. It was somewhat small, with only one bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen, but it was_ hers _. Finally, she had something that could belong to her._

" _I love it!" she squealed, for once acting like the five-year old she was._

 _The Hokage smiled at her. "I'm glad you do."_

Her only prized possessions — a calligraphy set from the Hokage and a cute, russet-colored stuffed fox plush she'd found on her doorstep on her birthday two days ago (her only birthday gift from someone other than the Hokage) — sat on the only table.

She hummed a small tune as she skipped out of her apartment to greet the Hokage. He'd promised to take her out for dango, and even if the people running the dango stand hated her, really, who would turn down the Hokage? And when she was with the Hokage, she never got more than a couple glares, and they never inflated the price, so maybe, for one day, she could pretend she was normal. (She knew she wasn't, not really, after all the villagers must have a reason to hate her… right? But it was still nice to pretend she was.)

He met her just outside the faded whitewashed building. His wizened face crinkled into a grandfatherly smile at her. "Hello Kazumi-chan," he said.

"Jiji," she greeted. He walked with her to the best dango stand in the village, inquiring about the month like he always did. Often when they went on these monthly (for the Hokage was busy, too busy to see her everyday) trips, she would see a violet-haired kunoichi in a trench coat scarf down dango near them, almost possessively. The Hokage would order two plates of dango for them when the waiter came along. She'd pretend not to see the waiter's gaze at her and how he practically sneered as she told him her order. They wouldn't try anything, not when the Hokage was there, but she knew that were he not there, they would refuse to serve her like all the other shops.

The Hokage would then ask her how she'd been the past month, so she'd proceed to speak about useless chit-chat — commenting on the weather, how beautiful the flowers were, and _isn't the sky gorgeous today?_ , but nothing personal — so she wouldn't have to talk about the villagers. She didn't want to worry the Hokage when she was already used to it. (She didn't know that each carefully deflected question, each idle comment made the Hokage even more pained.)

She didn't mind that the Hokage could meet her only once a month. He was busy; she knew that it couldn't be easy to run an entire village. So, when the ordinary-looking brown-haired chuunin dropped into their little lunch with a message for the Hokage, and he took off after paying the bill and offering her an apology, she was only slightly disappointed. She _had_ looked forward to the monthly visits. But she accepted that the Hokage had more pressing businesses to attend to than to eat dango with an orphan, one that was hated no less. He probably was hard-pressed enough already to make enough free time to even meet with her at all.

The glares sent at her reminded her where she was. She quickly left the dango shop, knowing that now that the Hokage left, she was no longer welcome.

She let her feet carry her while she walked, not really paying attention to her surroundings, and found herself stopping in front of a beautiful garden high up on the plateau behind the Hokage mountain. It was barely one kilometer away from the back of the Fourth Hokage's head, but strangely, it seemed no one else came up here. She'd discovered this place just last year, — shortly after she'd ran from her third orphanage — but it was already her favorite place to be in Konoha, aside from her small apartment. It was very tranquil, and she often came here to get away from the glares. She suspected that only the masked nin who watched her — ANBU, the Hokage told her — knew about this place. If she tried hard enough, sometimes she would catch brief flashes of black, but if it were not for that, she never have thought they were there, quiet as they were.

She sat down on the large stone on the edge of the smooth, clear pond dotted with small white lotus blossoms, tinged with pink. The peace here calmed her and there always seemed to be some sort of lulling serenity present. She could sit at the edge of the pond for hours, watching the koi swim around flashing their brilliant golden scales and watching the tiny woodland critters in the surrounding trees.

During the late months of spring — May and even early June — the beautiful cherry-blossom trees planted along the gurgling stream that lead to the pond bloomed, and dropped the little blossoms onto the glassy crystal-clear surface of the stream, where they were carried off downstream. Colorful songbirds gathered in the branches of the trees and chirped out their exquisite melodies, blending together into a gorgeous melody. She often listened to them sing to their heart's content without anyone judging them and wondered if one day, she, too, might be as free. This place was her little safe-haven away from the villagers. Sometimes, when he was free, the Hokage would join her here and talk. They made an odd pair, an old man in large white robes and a little red-haired girl sitting together at the edge of a pond together. This afternoon, however, she was so tired that she ended up falling asleep in front of the pond, lulled to sleep by the warm sunlight and the playful babbling of the stream.

When she woke, the sun was already beginning to dip beyond the horizon, coloring the sky a golden-orange shade, mixed with hues of pink and soft purple. Shadows splayed out over the buildings, stretching inky tendrils over everything. She jumped up from her sleeping position on the rock when she noticed how it was quickly turning dark. The golden-orange was being swallowed up by darker shades of purple and indigo and small, diamond-like stars were coming out, one by one.

She rarely stayed out so late, since it was more dangerous at night in Konoha, with all its shadows. Something could happen to someone and no one would even know. Bandits — though not many — came out this late, although most were caught by the Uchiha police force. She knew this. She quickly and quietly took the secret path along the side of the Hokage mountain down, and carefully made her way home, threading through the streets and avoiding the dark alleyways. She'd nearly been caught a couple times by drunk villagers the last few times she had stayed out so late, but this time, it seemed they were all inside. The lights of the night-shops were on, and inside some, she could see older, seasoned shinobi tossing back sake and chatting amongst friends. What must it have taken, she wondered, to develop such a camaraderie, such a friendship? (She knew later, and wished she could unlearn it as she watched her teammate fall to the ground, crimson already pooling around him, even as she let out a scream of rage; knew the sweat and blood and tears, the danger, the life and death situations it took to form such a bond).

She breathed a sigh of relief when she made it home unscathed. She slipped her shoes off and put them neatly next to the door. As she closed the door of her apartment, her eye caught a flash of bright, white light streaking through the sky. She closed her eyes and made a wish even as the shooting star disappeared beyond the skyline, leaving the night dark once more.

Please, if only for one day, let me just be a normal child in Konoha.

* * *

 **A.N.** **_So, what did you all think? This is my first actual, long writing piece, and I'm curious as to how you find it. Please, feel free to give any constructive criticism or feedback. My writing may not be the best since_**

 ** _Also, this may be a tad bit dark as she is, in fact a jinchuuriki (did I spell that right?) and a child, so yes, she is going to exaggerate the villager's treatment a little since children don't deal very well with any form of neglect or emotional abuse._**

 ** _That said, please enjoy this story!_**

 ** _~Iridescent Moonflower_**


	2. Academy Arc: II

**Disclaimer** : Naruto is in no way mine. Its characters, plot, and setting all belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

 _Chapter 2:_

 _Academy Arc: II_

* * *

Morning found her awake, bright and early, humming cheerfully to herself as she got dressed in the outfit the old man had picked out for her as a gift for entering the Academy. It was a simple lavender t-shirt with accompanying black leggings and a pair of blue shinobi sandals; she wouldn't be needing a real genin outfit with padded protection and all that until she graduated. She tied her crimson-red hair back with the pretty violet ribbon also given to her by the Hokage. It was a vibrant shade of violet, matching her eyes almost perfectly. It seemed to be made of silk, and was decorated with lovely floral designs, easily being the nicest thing she owned, other than the calligraphy set the Sandaime gave her. Altogether, she thought her outfit looked rather pretty.

Today was orientation, so most likely nothing interesting would happen, but still — it was her first day at the Academy! The thought made her giddy with excitement. She put together a small breakfast of a hastily made onigiri and an omelette, and practically scarfed down her food. She decided to break in her new sandals with a light jog to the Academy, locking the door behind her as she left, and then she broke into a run, keeping to the side of the road.

It was the hour which the Market opened, so she could see many stall vendors and shopkeepers bustling about, opening their shops or stalls for the day. There were all sorts of stalls, from clothing stalls to food to jewelry. She saw, to her right, there was a man selling mouth-watering delicious breakfast foods, wafting their aroma out in the air. To her left, a woodworker and a blacksmith were having a conversation, likely discussing something related to their businesses. The sound of the market was a loud cacophony, filled with people talking, kids shouting, pots clanging, and carts rolling. She kept away from the din, knowing that they most certainly would not appreciate her presence. It also made her over-sensitive ears hurt.

The Academy was only two blocks away from her apartment, a fact she was grateful for as she came to a stop in front of the open gates. She'd managed to avoid most of the glares and had not stumbled into someone even once. She hoped that meant today would be a good day.

She walked inside to the courtyard, where she found a large crowd of people standing. Most of them were parents, bringing their children for their first day at the Academy, or they were close family friends that came to see the children off. She quickly stifled the envy and sadness she felt, seeing that.

The crowd seemed to be expecting someone to appear on the raised platform in the front, and she guessed it was probably the Hokage. They hadn't seemed to notice her yet, so she placed herself along a large tree, hiding in its shadow. A old swing set hung from one of the lower branches of the tree. The swing seemed to be a plank of wood held up by two worn, fraying ropes that attached it to a low-hanging branch, which was probably only six feet off the ground.

From this vantage point, she could clearly see the Hokage Mountain, its four stone faces staring down impassively at the village. She definitely wasn't going to be Hokage, she'd decided. She saw the amount of paperwork the Hokage did, as well as how stressed he always seemed to be, although he did a good job of hiding it. He was well-respected, yes, but he was always stuck behind a desk and unable to actually _fight_ for Konoha. She would never be able to stand just sitting behind a desk while other loyal shinobi fought and died out in the field.

So no, not Hokage. Maybe jounin then? _Yeah_ , she decided, _I'll become the most powerful kunoichi in Konoha, an S-rank ninja._ Then, she hoped, the villagers wouldn't hate her anymore. (Because even underneath all her maturity, she was still a child and a child cannot understand _why_ someone hates them for no reason; does not understand how emotions cloud judgement. In the end, she was still a young child just yearning to be accepted.)

Cheers heralded the arrival of the Hokage from the civilian parents. They seemed to stare wide-eyed at the Sandaime, likely because otherwise they would not see the Hokage. Usually, civilians did not interact much with shinobi unless they were family members or friends, and certainly not with someone as powerful or respected as the Sandaime Hokage, who, right then, appeared on the stage in a puff of smoke. She had no doubt he could appear without the smoke too, but she had to admit it had a nice dramatic flair. He was still wearing his white and red robes and that funny hat with the kanji for fire on it, but the pipe she'd been accustomed to seeing was nowhere in sight.

"Greetings, citizens of Konoha." He spoke, his words resounding around the courtyard, despite them not being spoken very loudly. "I would like to welcome you and your children to the Academy. It is always a gift for a leader to see the next generation of shinobi who will become the support pillars of Konoha, and guard, protect and fight for her and all she stand for. For the peace of our land and the happiness of the civilians, the role of the shinobi… " She stopped paying attention to his speech. It was a basic speech about the Will of Fire and welcoming the parents and other children to the Academy that lasted for approximately five minutes.

She instead took her time observing her (possibly) new classmates. There were two classes for the first year, and she wasn't sure which class she may be in. She noted that there were quite a lot of clan children who would be entering this year, though none were clan heirs. Many of the clan heirs had been born around the same time, and she guess they were probably around her own age and so would not start at the Academy for another two years. Of those who were starting the Academy this year, though, she saw a female Hyuuga with long, black hair having a stare-off with a male Uchiha. An Akimichi female sat with a female Yamanaka talking about something and sharing snacks, and, like her, not really paying attention to the Hokage's speech. The Nara stood off to the side, and oddly enough, was actually paying attention to what the Hokage was saying. A motivated Nara? That was a new one, though she supposed since she'd never had any interaction with them it was possible that the females were motivated. There was no Aburame as far as she could see, nor Inuzuka. Seems like the Aburame-Hyuuga-Inuzuka team would not be created from this class. She was sure she saw some of the more minor clans present though. Was that a Kurama over there?

Not many civilians were present, but she could tell right away that they not clan children by their posture and the way they held themselves. Perhaps normal six-year-olds would not have caught it, but her observation skills were higher than most, as she spent most of her time watching others since she could not join them.

Most of the other children were one or two years older than her, except for one unusual-looking blond. He had bright, spiky, golden-yellow hair and unique cerulean-blue eyes. He seemed about her age, though he was smaller than normal six-year-olds. Maybe he was an orphan like her? She made a mental note to talk to him later. He seemed like he was lonely, too, and maybe they could be friends. She turned her attention back to the Hokage just as he was finishing his speech. "— and show us your Will of Fire!" His statement was met with cheers and applause, and the parents began dispersing, taking their children to their respective classes. She quickly lost track of the enigmatic blonde in the crowd. She made her way to the list posted on the wall, and saw she was in the first class, so she trailed behind the group of parents making their way to the classroom. The blonde kid, she noticed, had been put in the second class. She frowned. She would not be able to see him much, then, except for lunch break, until third year when the two classes were combined.

She took her seat at the very back of the classroom so at all times everyone would be in front of her, and so her back would not be turned to anyone. She watched the other children mingle and talk. It seemed a lot of the clan children already knew each other, and the civilian children likewise. None of the clan children were heirs, so perhaps their parents were simply friends? That seemed likely. After all, even the non-heir children of the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans were grouped together to form the famous Ino-Shika-Cho trio, although the most well-known and successful one, by far, was the one with the leaders of the clans, Inoichi Yamanaka, Choza Akimichi, and Shikaku Nara, even if it had been somewhat disbanded when Inoichi became the head of the T & I and Shikaku became jounin commander. (It was amazing how much one could pick up if they sat in the Hokage's office, observing the gossip and watching the interactions between the Hokage and his shinobi, especially if one was a five —no, _six_ — year old girl who everyone thought could not understand what was going on. Except she _did_ understand and soaked up the knowledge she gained like a sponge.)

The door swung open, and their teacher walked in. She was ordinary-looking, with shoulder-length brown hair and warm, honey orbs, and looked to be about twenty-five years old. She wore the standard Chunin flak vest and blue shinobi sandals. She carried a stack of papers with her.

"Hello everyone!" she said cheerfully. "Please take a seat." Their new sensei waited as the children piled into the seats, some arguing over who sat next to whom. Only a few seats were empty, including the spot next to her in the very back. "Welcome to the Academy," their new sensei greeted. "My name's Yamamoto Minori. I am going to be your teacher; call me Minori-sensei or Yamamoto-sensei if you must.

"I will be taking attendance first. Just say 'here' when I call you name, okay?" She read through the list, starting at the Akimichi and ending with her. "Now, why don't we all introduce ourselves?" Minori-sensei suggested. "Just say your name, likes, dislikes, and so on.

"Akimichi Cho," she called. The Akimichi she'd seen earlier walked up to the front, and waved.

"Hi! My name's Akimichi Cho! I like eating, playing with my friend Yamanaka Kiyoko, and cooking with my mom. I dislike people who call me fat, and who disrespect my clan because of our techniques. Please take care of me."

"Arai Riko." A civilian girl walked shyly forward and introduced herself. "Aoki Takara." "Chiba Yumi." "Hyuga Sakiko." She snapped her attention to the front and saw the Hyuuga walk up with a slight bounce in her step. She still exhibited childishness that could not be found in the older Hyuuga. When she spoke, emotion was still present, unlike the monotone voices of some others in her clan. Sakiko introduced herself, _smiling_. A Hyuuga _smiling._ Odd. "Nara Shikari."

In this manner, they continued until Minori-sensei read, "Uzumaki Kazumi." She stood up, and hoped she hadn't imagined the way Minori-sensei's eyes didn't change when they looked at her like so many others' did. Minori-sensei's eyes stayed warm, even when looking at her. Kazumi sucked in her breath, trying to keep her eyes from moistening. Was there finally someone other than the Hokage who would treat her like a normal child and not a monster?

She made her way to where Minori-sensei stood. "Hello," she said shyly, not used to speaking in front of others. "My name is Uzumaki Kazumi. I… I like collecting flowers, meeting with my jiji, and eating daifuku at the cafe jiji takes me to, and I dislike people who judge others without getting to know them." Thus finishing, she ducked her head and practically raced back to her seat, missing the worried and concerned look Minori shot at her.

Minori-sensei turned and addressed the room. "Alright. Now, that we have all gotten to know one another, I will be introducing our curriculum for this year." She paused, eyes scanning over the class. "This year we will be brushing up on your reading and math skills, and we will be learning history in the morning. We will not touch basic taijutsu until around the middle of the year, nor will we be touching chakra until the second year, so please, be patient. The Academy is here to prepare you to become shinobi to serve the village, and do not forget I am also here to guide you. After four years, you will be taking the graduation test, unless you are one of the ones who drops out… or graduates early.

"We will be learning how to throw kunai this year as well. If you wish to learn to throw shuriken, ask a parent or relative, as we will learn how to throw shuriken second year. If you wish to learn a projectile other than the two standard ones, like senbon, then you will have to ask an on-duty shinobi since I'm afraid we do not cover them in the academy." She paused. "Any questions?"

The class was silent, until one brown-haired civilian girl spoke up. "When will the special kunoichi classes start?"

Minori-sensei grinned. "Those will also start second year. You'll have another teacher for them. Alright then, if there's no more questions, we will have a test to see where you are at. This will determine the basic rankings until we begin projectile training or basic taijutsu training. Don't worry, rankings can, and likely _will_ , change throughout the year." She began passing out the tests.

Kazumi looked at her test when it landed in front of her, frowning a bit. It seemed the clan kids would, once again, have an advantage over civilian-born kids, since she doubted any civilian parents would have taught their children to calculate the trajectory of a kunai or the basic information about the elemental affinities. Lucky for her, then, that the Hokage let her read some of the books in his office.

The first problem was a simple Konoha code that she knew about because she saw some of the Hokage's paperwork had been written in it. It was a common, easily decipherable Academy-standard code. Heck, she bet all the clan kids already knew this code. _She'_ d never learned it, though she picked up enough from watching in the Hokage's office to get the gist of what was being said. She picked up her pencil and quickly jotted down the answer, making her way to the next question, which was a "what would you do if you were in this situation?" question. In this case, the problem went something like this: If you and your team of two chunin and two jonin were to fight a group of five or six enemy jonin in a stronghold or other building, what would you do? She wrote down, _I would camouflage the team and go straight forward since the enemy shinobi would not expect us to take a frontal attack. Instead, because of their instincts, they will guard the side-doors and other more hidden and concealed entry-ways. However, just in case, I will have whomever is the fastest of the team stay behind as backup in case we are in a sticky situation. If one member of the team was a fuinjutsu specialist, I will have them create summoning scrolls to get out of any dangerous circumstances._ She moved on to the next question.

She finished the test forty-five minutes later, being the first of the orphans and civilian children to finish. The Nara (Shikari was it?), she noted, finished first with the Hyuga Sakiko following soon after. Akimichi Cho and Yamanaka Kiyoko finished after them, and spent the rest of the time chatting quietly with each other. The other clan kids had finished earlier than her as well, and were now either squirming in their seats, or (in the case of the Nara) staring out the window.

Kazumi handed the test to Minori-sensei. Minori-sensei looked over it, checking for her name, and put it on top of the stack of the already turned-in tests. "Thank you," she said. "Please wait quietly for the others to finish, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay, Minori-sensei."

* * *

Kazumi gathered all of her courage and approached the small group of the clan girls eating lunch together. "Can I join you?" she asked hesitantly, preparing herself to be rejected. She was caught off guard by the Yamanaka's response.

"Sure!" the Yamanaka chirped. "'course you can! My name's Yamanaka Kiyoko, but you probably already knew that." She pointed to the dozing Nara behind her. "That's Shikari, and that," she said, pointing to the Akimichi, "is Cho." Akimichi Cho waved, and offered her some dango. Kazumi declined politely. "Oh!" Kiyoko exclaimed. "And that's Sakiko," she introduced, now pointing to the Hyuuga. "Don't worry; she's not a stick in the mud like most Hyuuga."

"Nice to meet you," Sakiko greeted warmly. Kazumi eyed them warily, wondering why they were being so nice to her.

"It's 'cuz you looked lonely," Kiyoko said. Kazumi blinked. Had she read her mind? "Nope," Kiyoko grinned. "I'm reading your posture and facial expression. Yamanaka are great at reading people, you know."

"I'm Kazumi," she offered.

"Come join us, Kazumi, no need to be shy," Cho said.

Kazumi blinked. Should she trust them? It could lead to a lot of heartbreak later when inevitably their parents told them to stay away from her, but… she really did want to have some friends. Sighing, she made up her mind. "Okay."

* * *

Kazumi raised her hand to wave goodbye, then thought better of it and let her hand drop down. She didn't want to ruin Minori-sensei's reputation like she would if the villagers saw her associating with "the demon". She was happy, though, her steps bouncy and light as she walked home from the academy, clasping her new Academy-issued textbook to her chest. The female clan children were much more accepting than she'd thought they would be, being not hesitant at all in letting her join them. Kazumi practically glowed. It was the first time she'd eaten lunch and conversed with someone _other_ than the Hokage, and she much enjoyed the light atmosphere and friendly conversations.

She'd found that Shikari _was_ actually quite motivated and seemed to be a sort of genius in her clan, and though her chakra pool was slightly less than an average kunoichi's, her unusual (for her clan) motivation more than made up for it. Kiyoko and Cho had been friends since they were young because their fathers had been teammates on the same genin team in the Second Shinobi war. Both of their parents were quite close to their clan heads, being cousins of a sort, so they sometimes had dinner with their clan heads' families.

Yamanaka Kiyoko, she discovered, was a social butterfly. She had a huge gossip network and seemed to know everything that was going on. She could be considered pretty for her age, with her blonde hair and baby-blue eyes, though she didn't seem to care much for her looks.

Akimichi Cho, on the other hand, enjoyed eating, much like her clansmen, She was usually eating sweets like daifuku (which she'd shared with Kazumi despite her protesting that _no, she didn't need it_ and _it's your food, you should have it_. Still, though, Kazumi had been surprised Cho even remembered her saying that she liked daifuku in her introduction), dango, and chocolate pocky.

Hyuuga Sakiko was, as she thought, more open in general than most Hyuuga. Though her covered forehead indicated she was a Branch member, she did not seem to have any hate in her. She just seemed determined to help her clan however she could. Kazumi admired her loyalty and dedication to a clan who would enslave their own family members. (She'd been shocked and disgusted when she'd learned, one day in the Hokage's office, that the Hyuuga put the cage bird seal _on their own family_. That wasn't how family should be like, she'd thought.)

She observed the rays of light that shone down from the sun in the clear, blue sky. The afternoon wind brushed through her hair, fluttering the red locks behind her and she smiled at the Hokage monument, at Konoha, her _home_. Maybe, just maybe, a new chapter of her life was beginning.

* * *

 **A.N.** **_Hey everyone! So her name was revealed in this chapter! I'm sure you all can guess who her family is. :)_**

 ** _And thank you, everyone, who favorited this story! This chapter is for you all. I hope you enjoy it. Please give constructive criticism, especially if you see a grammatical or spelling error, since I might not have caught all of them. Any feedback is much appreciated._**

 ** _Sorry for the long wait, but I usually post the chapters as soon as I write them, and it took me three days to be inspired enough to write this. I'll probably have the next chapter written and up in about two weeks, so please, stick with me._**

 ** _I know this may not be as good as the previous chapter, but I'm still working on my writing skill, and I'm afraid action scenes are a little hard to write (I'm still trying to figure out how to transition between scenes smoothly. It doesn't seem to be working all to well.) :)_**

 ** _Once again, thank you for reading my story!_**

 ** _~Iridescent Moonflower_**


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